Posted on 08/22/2005 1:10:58 PM PDT by bayourod
Illegal immigration is a complex national problem.
It won’t be solved by piecemeal attacks such as that of GOP gubernatorial hopeful Jerry Kilgore in opposing a day laborer site in Herndon.
Such tactics fuel anti-immigrant prejudices while skipping the hard part, acknowledging the broad tradeoffs and difficult compromises necessary for a permanent solution.
If exploitation of nativist emotion isn’t Kilgore’s intention, then he should pull the plug on this line of campaigning.
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At issue is the proposal of a coalition of community organizations to open a day laborer site in a soon-to-be abandoned police station straddling the Herndon-Loudoun County line. Currently, scores of men gather daily at a nearby convenience store to await the arrival of private employers who hire them for day labor in construction, yard work, and the like.
Kilgore joined critics calling the proposed site a haven for illegal immigrants and a breeding ground for illegal activity.
But others argue convincingly that an official site, including a police or security presence, would more likely contain bad behavior while serving both small-time employers and legal workers. The Herndon council validated that view with a 5-2 vote Wednesday to open the center.
No doubt, some illegals will turn up there. But frustration with U.S. failure to stem the flow of illegal immigration ought to be directed toward Congress, the immigration service or others with an opportunity to make a real difference.
Virginians who grouse about illegal immigrants should open their eyes and see who’s really tending their lawns, putting new shingles on their roofs, cleaning toilets in their office building and hotels. Illegal immigrants are doing the dirty jobs that Virginians don’t want.
Kilgore characterized the problem in Herndon as one of illegals taking “hard-earned dollars from law-abiding citizens.”
In fact, the issue there and elsewhere wouldn’t exist except for America’s addiction to cheap labor. Undocumented workers sustain many of the services and prices Americans have come to expect.
Politicians as diverse as President George Bush, GOP Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy acknowledge that a much-expanded temporary worker program, combined with some form of enforceable amnesty for illegals with long tenure here, is the only hope for getting a handle on the problem.
Name-calling about undocumented workers who supposedly leach the system dry might win votes. But it won’t make the problem go away.
If this BS keeps up, in a few years we won't even be able to kick uninvited guests out of our own homes!!!
Mexico is failing as a country. Half the population still there (fifty million out of one hundred million), want to come live in the US. WHY? Because of ingrained violence, corruption, rampant drug operations, the list is endless.
Twenty million Mexicans have already come north, illegally. These are the poor folk who want a better life and are willing to work for it. The fifty million who also want to come are the middle class, and if they head north, Vincente Fox is in deep trouble. He can't fix the country's problems by dumping them on the US with this 'integration' scheme he and his ministers promote every other week.
Why? Because when Mexicans break US laws, they'll be punished and Fox will yell bloody murder (already has), and to no avail. The alternative to Fox fixing Mexico and making it an attractive, decent place to live is the US invading and cleaning up the mess. Again. What the heck is wrong with Mexico? Don't they get it?
MSM confusing legal and illegal immigration.
Let me know when you get an answer. :)
And by dictating floor market wages, seems you are longing for the paradises of the former communist bloc.
ha ha ha
nice try, way to dodge the question and apply the commie label. Again
Please someone tell me why we need a single illegal immigrant, and how it benefit's the USA. I am not being sarcastic I want the "undocumented worker" fan club to give me one reason why having illegal aliens residing in the USA is a good thing. Furthermore please advise me how rewarding people who broke the law to enter helps the USA's interests
Were they illegal?
You really do hate native born Americans, don't you. Why? BTW, there are plenty of non native born people getting "the slipped disc" welfare. Don't even try with the "illegals can't get welfare". Robert Vasquez has disclosed the forms used by the government when applying for welfare...do not ask if the applicant is in the country legally.
Like flying suicide missions into the Pentagon, for example.
Dane's ignorance is so pronounced that one must wonder if he/she has ever been employed. By not caring that our tax dollars are funding "ILLEGALS", it makes one wonder if perhaps he's never paid taxes. What say you, Dane?? Ever held a job? Are you an illegal immigrant? As IF you'd even answer those questions honestly. LOL
For various reasons, we simply do not have a big enough (legal) labor pool in the US to meet all of the requirements of our economy.
Could our economy go on without illegals? Sure. But get ready to carve a percent or two off of our economy's rate of growth.
Prices for such things as construction, produce, building cleaning, meat, landscaping etc. would go up if illegals did not perform such jobs.
That's a hard reality. Now, whether such an economic sacrifice is worth securing our Southern border is the question.
No employers who pay these slave wages and exploit the employment laws should be hammered.
No I hate people who committ welfare/workers comp fraud, be they native born or non-native born.
It might but you have to pay attention to your grip and follow-through. The weight of the club is all-important as well.
That is a price I am willing to pay! You get what you pay for.
And the guy from Guatemala earning $24 an hour doing construction is getting "slave wages".
BTW, you sound like a union thug, with your socialist onus that business is inherantly evil.
I agree that it would be "nuts to think that simply enforcing our borders will do the trick".
If you think that's what I've been saying, you are incorrect. I have been saying that we need to do ALL of these things; crack down BIG TIME on the employers, and private citizens who hire these Illegals, secure our borders, AND start rounding up all of the Illegals that are already here, send them back home and tell them that the next time they visit they HAVE to enter through the front door, not sneak in a window.
Some people are. Many are not.
A guest worker program is a good idea, IMO. Along with increased punishments of employers who hire illegals.
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